According to the Nursing Council of India, there are around 10.35 lakh nurses registered with them, but only 40% are in active service.
This is what the government could classify as a ‘health crisis’.
According to the Union health ministry, India is currently facing a shortage of over 60% nurses. In fact, in few public hospitals in the city, the nurse-patient ratio is about 1:60 in the evening and night shifts.
According to the Nursing Council of India, there are around 10.35 lakh nurses registered with them, but only 40% are in active service.
“The nurse-patient ratio is extremely strained and possibly the worst when compared to other developed countries,” said Thresiamma Sugathan, president, Trained Nurses Association of India, Mumbai branch.
The Nursing Council of India recommends a nurse-patient ratio of 1:1 in critical care unit, 1:3 in the intermediate care unit and 1:6 in the ambulatory (general) ward. “Maintaining the ratio is tough,” said Sugathan.
“If you have 15 patients, you need 45 nurses as 15 will be working in each shift. You also need to make 30% leave reserve. This is the reason there is a huge shortage of nurses.”
“Even though nurses in public hospitals are receiving salary as per the sixth pay commission, they are overworked,” said Francesca Rebello, nursing manager, Prince Aly Khan Hospital, Mazgaon.
“There are a few private hospitals which pay well. But most nurses want to go abroad as the salaries are attractive and the working conditions are better.”
Unfortunately, the shortage of nurses has resulted in smaller nursing homes appointing underqualified and untrained nurses on their payroll, a nurse said on condition of anonymity.
“We need twice the existing number of nursing professionals to balance the dwindling patient-nurse ratio,” agreed a former member of the Maharashtra Nursing Council, which is in the process of being reconstituted after dissolution.
Stress and work pressure are major deterrents for nurses workingin Mumbai. “We work long hours and are not provided any security after late night shifts. In the past, nurses went on strike to demand better working conditions,” said another nurse.
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